Greg

This is not the first time I've been wrong!

The13Bats

The bulk of posts on this forum about anything are opinions and speculation,

And we base it on lots of things,
Your convertible sitting in a decade of weather with nothing more than surface rust is to me like getting the tin compass in ones box of crackerjacks, feel like a lucky cat, most are not that fortunate, its a sad truth about c3s

Ive owned too many and been around too many vettes not to have a jaded bias against rust because most have rust and more than surface, no matter what the owner says, anyone who has done much with them knows this, some of us are not bucks up enough to toss money away on gambled like assuming its rust free,

For every one 68 like yours theres countless others that didnt fend as well and were even better cared for,

Ill admit i am completely ignorant to how the "forum" will call it,
Many cars i see with potentinal are called land fill and others i see as parts cars are called jewels, and all vice versa. I got to where i really dont care,

So if i yell about inspect it for rust then a would be buyer might check the car closer, they might see more problems than they want to deal with and pass or they might find a rust free jewel that sat in the weather a decade and jump,

The latter is a huge epic win, the forum isnt and in these cases i dont mind being jaded and paranoid or even to sound negitive if it saves a guy from a costly mistake.

Easy Mike

Are we having fun yet?

drewwill

Well, the guessing was fun for a little while?

I'll be back with more pics tonight. Maybe that'll help.

Greg

Congrats on the new purchase!
I think the 69L paint is pretty sharp looking. Always nice to have something a little different about your Corvette (there are enough red ones already!)

carriljc

I sure wish the best for you AND hopefully you did the suggested rust checks before becoming infatuated......

drewwill

Thank you, I appreciate it! I pretty well got the car for a song, so if the worst case scenario comes around then I won't be out much. I'm not really planning to go frame-off or anything with it anyway (at least right now), so as long as she stays in once piece I should be good!

drewwill

The previous owner has mention that he hasn't started it since November. Other than the normal sitting-for-a-while car things, is there anything specific to Corvettes that may help shake the rust off of this engine? The battery definitely needs a charge (started on that last night), and I found what I believe to be the manual choke lever on the left hand side of the dash. The gas, though a few months old, should still be good. I'll make sure all fluids are up to par before she cranks.....I'm sure I'm missing something, but that's what y'all are so great!

croaker

Pictures please!

drewwill

I feel like a terrible human being. I went over there to start it last night; didn't take any pictures right away because I wanted to use it as a reward for success. However, between my girlfriend freezing her butt off in the parking lot it's in and the fact that after an hour on the battery charger it still won't crank, I had to give up for the evening and forgot to take any more pictures. I'll being going back tonight to try a few more things; it seems so close. Just need her to crank and I think she'll start. As a peace offering, I do have the following picture to share:

LT-1 kid

where is the car and you located

Easy Mike

Based on the pic, I'd say it's located under about six inches of snow.

drewwill

That WAS a very accurate statement Mike! It's all dug out now though. and i'm in SC Wisconsin.

I was reading a couple threads over in the c3 tech section that kind of have me leaning toward the starter as the issue. I did try hitting it a few times, but not while cranking. The previous owner says the starter was replaced recently, but "new just means shiny", right? I'm going to get battery voltages tonight. Based on the fact that the dash, interior and exterior lights have all gotten brighter as I've charged the battery I'm sure it was low. The fact that the starter still won't even half crank with the (perceived, anyway) increase in voltage makes me think it may have seized up from sitting for 3-4 months. I know it's all speculation w/out numbers or pictures, but I guess I'm just thinking out loud and hoping y'all could give me a few more things to check.

I'm also wondering if it could be the neutral safety switch? The car is an auto.

blue by you

Put it in nuetral and try to start it, and also put a pair of jumper cables on when you try

drewwill

Neutral is a great idea. I'll try that tonight right away.

As far as the cables, I've been using a jumper box. Would actual jumper cables provide more power? My other idea was to just "borrow" the battery from my Silverado for a few minutes and see if it did the trick.

drewwill

C3 4ME

How much trans fluid is in it? A lack of fluid could definitely keep it from moving. What do you know about the history of the car? Was it a running, driving car? Why was it parked?

drewwill

I'm not sure about the fluid level yet, as it was getting pretty late/cold last night and she's parked on a fairly steep hill. I'm going to head back over this afternoon and roll it down the hill to a flat piece of ground and check it out. For the record, letting it warm up last night did not work. And it would only go into neutral when the engine wasn't running. As soon as you started it, you only had Park and "drive" (not sure if it was 1st, 2nd or 3rd).

The previous owner purchased the car last fall (the previous title was in North Carolina) and did drive it a half dozen times or so before he got frustrated (he's not really a classic car kinda guy). From what I understand it drove itself into that parking stall this past November and has been there ever since. I believe the straw that broke the camel's back was a mystery drain on the battery that his "mechanic" couldn't find.

I'm hoping to be back over there about 5 pm (central) tonight. Hopefully it's just a little low on fluid or the shifter's just out of whack a bit. I'll check anything else anybody can suggest also.

Here she is:

Pa'svette

Good luck with her!
C-3s are like a pretty wife, fun to ride but high maintenance and frustrating as hell.

P.S. Don't ask me how I know.

Sabre34

Not enough info.